


letter(s)

by hesitant-nothing (lanequeer), soft_boi



Category: Fall Out Boy, Halsey (Musician), Melanie Martinez (Musician), My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Paramore, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Multi, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, What am I doing?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-09-26 14:28:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9904379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanequeer/pseuds/hesitant-nothing, https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_boi/pseuds/soft_boi
Summary: Every person (almost) is born with a letter on their wrist. This letter is the first letter of your soulmate's name. What happens if you have two letters?





	1. a predicament

**Author's Note:**

> A poly!peterickey soulmate AU!!

Every child is told, at least by the time that they’re five, that the letter on their wrist means something very important. It’s the first letter of their soulmate’s name and they must find someone who loves them and has the first letter of their own name on their wrist. When you married your soulmate, never sooner, their full name would appear. It wasn’t unheard of to have no letter on your wrist, or to have the letter change at some point. Still, your wrist was important and everyone knew not to get a tattoo there, so as not obscure the letter (many tattoo parlors even prohibited it). Which was something often Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III struggled with.

 

You see, Pete had two letters on his wrist, an M and a P. And, since he had been branded (or at least tried to brand himself, not very well) as a bad boy, everyone assumed he had done the taboo and gotten a tattoo next to it. Pete hadn’t, of course, he had a mother. No, Pete had been born that way, and as much as he enjoyed the slight amount of attention earned from it, he needed answers. There was no one that could give them to him, not that he had ever asked any scientists or anything, but from the people he  _ had  _ asked (his mother, his friends, his doctor, etc., except not really et cetera because Pete drew the line there) nobody had any explanation. 

 

All of Pete’s friends had one letter (except Andy, who had no letter, and he appeared to be very much unperturbed by this. Guess the universe knew what it was doing, so maybe it was a bitch on purpose.), although few had actually found their soulmates. It was only high school after all. Two of Pete’s pretty close friends, Ryan and Brendon, were pretty much sure they were soul mates. Even if they (really just Ryan, who knew Brendon loved him and that he could fucking leave Bren if he ever did something too stupid but he never would becausE RYAN MOTHERFUCKING ROSS WOULD NEVER LEAVE BRENDON BECAUSE HE KNOWS IT WOULD BREAK MY FUCKING HEART okay, calm, calm, it’s all good, mx. narrator) joked that they weren’t.

 

“Dallon just asked if I was ever ugly, Spencer said no, and fucking Brendon told him not to lie. I’m marrying Brent!” Ryan cried as he sat down. “No, babe! Wait, Brent doesn’t even have an R! Anyway, I love you, but you were ugly at some point. You had to be. Or else that’s just not fair. ” Brendon whined. “Brendon, shut up. Ryan, eat actual food (You’re thin as a dime).” Dallon says, sitting down and nudging Ryan, who steals an apple from Brendon. “Ya know, Bren, sometimes I wish you had a D instead of an R so you and Dall could just fuck and I’d be happy all on my own knowing nobody loves me. Is that too much to ask for?” Ryan mutters, punctuating with a bite of the apple. 

 

“Stop being cute, you’re making me more bitter than usual,” Pete says scowling slightly as his friend sticks out his tongue at him. “Someone’s a bitter baby because their wrist doesn’t make sense.” Frank sing-songs, sitting down. “Shut up. You know who your soulmate probably is, but you’re too scared to ask him out. At least if I could make any sense of mine I’d be brave and ask my soulmate out.” Pete mutters. Frank blushes and glares. 

 

“Would you? I spent, what, three months just waiting for Brendon to ask me out before couldn’t take it and goaded Spence into convincing him. Took Dallon, too. Jeez, know that I think about it, Bren really  _ did not  _ want to ask me out.” Ryan says, ending with a questioning look at the ceiling, while Brendon hits Dallon (because he forced him to ask Ryan out? Who knows what Brendon’s motives are) and blushes. “I was scared! You’re cute. Plus, I never believe what Dallon says.” Brendon insists. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” Dallon asks. Brendon shrugs, smiling, and Ryan leans onto Dallon.

 

Suddenly a red haired boy skids into view. Breathless, he looks around the table muttering, “Pete, Pete, where you at?” He locks eyes with Pete and smiles, “Aha! My brother, Mikey, really likes you. Yes, I know about your little letter predicament, I don’t give a fuck, I’m setting my brother up. He’s a sad lil gay child, and I’m here for the gay part, but not the rest.” he turns to Frank and narrows his eyes, “You’re a pansy, you know that? Good thing I like flowers, especially red pansies, fuck do I love those. Anyway, yes, I do have an F, maybe it isn’t for you, maybe it’s for a Felip maybe I’m wrong about the only thing I’m sure of and it’s for a Felicia. You’re taking me to Fifty Shades Darker, because I just decided you were, good going man! Okay, I gotta go before the art teacher shoves a paintbrush up my ass.” He runs off, presumably to the art room to prevent anal sex by art supplies.

 

Everyone looks at Frank, who is staring at the spot Gerard was last standing. “So that’s Gerard.” Ryan smiles. Frank nods slowly, coming back to his senses. “Okay, he’s great. I love him already. He’s the only person who’d dare call you a pansy.” Pete laughs. “Wait, no, no, no, Petey. Don’t think we’re ignoring the first part. Are you going out with Mikey or no?” Dallon rests his chin on his hand, shooting Pete an NSFW inquisitive look. Pete looks away. He actually really likes Mikey, he was nice and had a 10/10 jawline. But he also likes Patrick Stump, a cute kid that wore fedoras a lot (saying Patrick liked fedoras was like saying Brendon’s forehead was a little large). And, now that Pete thought about it… didn’t Patrick like Mikey?


	2. between books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's third person focusing on patrick.  
> (also adds a lot of lore/fact to the soulmate letter thing.)

Patrick is entering the library, something not very unusual for him. The librarian nods at him, looking back down. He knows where Patrick is going. The same place Pat always goes. Patrick slides his fingers on the slightly dusty shelves as he walks to the back of the library, where the books on soulmates are kept. 

He takes out the book he’s started  Love Letters: A Study of Soulmates . He flips it open to a random page and plunks onto the floor, hidden by the bookshelves he sits between. He starts reading:

_ Studies have shown that if a person is aromantic and asexual they most likely will not have an SML. If a person is just asexual, still involved in romantic relationships, their SML is usually underlined.  _

Patrick had already read through this part, so he skipped ahead a little bit, picking a random place to start. 

_ Interestingly, if a person’s soul mate dies the person’s SML may change. Occasionally, with strong connections, no letter will replace it, instead, that person will never have another soul mate. Another instance where the SML changes is when their soul mate is transgender. In the relationships studied the SML always changes to conform to the soul mate’s new name. _

Patrick had read this too, he had already experienced it first hand, with his friend Tyler (who’s birth name was Jenna). His boyfriend, Josh, had a letter J on his wrist and Tyler and he knew that were soulmates when Tyler changed his name and Josh’s letter changed too. Although he found it very interesting and rather sweet, it wasn’t exactly what Pat was looking for. That he had searched for in every book in this library and had yet to find. He’d learned a lot, and was a veritable Hermione of soul mate facts. Like this other one he flips to:

_ A strange occurrence has been seen in a few relationships, where a person can have a soulmate whose soulmate isn’t them, but a different person. (See page 112 for these types of relationships.) _

This is the closest Pat had ever gotten to his own problem, although it wasn’t the same thing. You see, Patrick had two letters (something the book referred to as SML or soul mate letters.) an M and a P. He found it strange and so had everyone else who he had told or had seen it. He wasn’t an object of scrutiny or wonder, not like Pete Wentz, a kid who Patrick had seen staring at him sometimes and also had two letters on his wrist, but was assumed to have gotten a tattoo. Pat knew that wasn’t true, from his book which stated:

_ If one was to get a tattoo on or near their SML, although it isn’t advised, the SML would become bolder and easier to see, meaning it would still be obvious. _

Pete’s two letters were the exact same boldness and, even including the teachers, Patrick was the only one in school who knew about the soul mate letter tattoo thing. Besides, Patrick doubted Pete would’ve spent the time bolding the tattoo to match the new boldness of his soul mate letter. He didn’t seem to care. (Although Patrick was pretty sure it was an act. There isn’t a person in the world who doesn’t care at all.)

_ The authors of this book are sure that it will need to be updated in time, but at the moment this is the truest and the most full compendium of facts the world has about SMLs.  _

Patrick realises he’s finished the book and closes it, softly putting it back on the shelf. He stands up, ready to go to lunch (which ends in fifteen minutes) and starts to walk out of his little nook when he sees legs sticking out from between two shelves. The legs are easily identifiable, for some strange reason (awkward knees extraordinaire). Mikey Way was lying in the library, in the soulmate section.

Pat pokes Mikey’s leg. “Um, hi,” Patrick says as Mikey flips himself over, pushing a (now closed, because Mikey respects books, as should everyone) book behind him. “Hi. You’re Patrick, no? Gee’s said something about you.” Mikey replies. Patrick blushes. 

Even if Mikey only knows who Patrick is because he’s Gerard’s friend and even if he only identified him because he wears fedoras it’s nice to have a cute (hot) boy (crush) knows your name. Patrick smiles and asks, “What’re you reading?” Mikey shrugs. “I got bored. Figured I’d read something for an,’’ here he pauses pointing his nose up and resting his head on his index finger, the other hand touching his glasses lightly, “intellectual such as myself.” Patrick giggles and Mikey flashes him a rare smile. 

“So you went to the soulmate section.” Patrick says, still standing over Mikey. “Yeah. I was wandering through the other non-fiction books, but these seemed more interesting.” Mikey replies, slightly sliding the book behind him toward him again. “Well, I’m the resident… uh… person of knowledge on that.” Patrick mumbles. “Then sit down!” Mikey says, motioning with his hand and scooting backwards. Patrick sits, ignoring the fact that he’s not had lunch. 

Patrick takes the book that Mikey was looking at. It’s  _ The Pattern In The Letters _ , a book Pat read a really, really, really, long time ago. It’s overly complicated and Patrick says so. “Really? I’m only seven chapters in, so suppose I don’t quite know.” Mikey puts the book back in the shelf (which is something Patrick greatly appreciates, as he’s spent many a minute in the library finding where books go) and picks out another. This time it’s  _ Love and Letters _ , a very good book in Patrick’s opinion. “What do you think of this one?” Mikey asks, flipping it open. “Everyone knows that they have a letter (or a name) on their wrist, but not many know the history behind it.” He reads. 

  
“I liked it, actually.” Patrick says. Mikey reads a little more before sighing and looking into Pat’s eyes. “You know something, Patrick?” he mutters. Patrick nods quietly, staring at Mikey intently. “I’m looking through these books for a reason.” he continues, his voice getting quieter as he talks. “I’ve got two letters. They’re both P, so maybe it’s just a fuck up, seems normal for a fuck up.” Mikey whispers, looking at his hands. Patrick touches Mikey’s hands. “So am I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't expect regular updates! i'm just really enjoying writing right now. bye!!


	3. this way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the narrator (me) may have gotten carried away with parentheses. sorry.

The bell rang, scaring Mikey and Patrick, who had been reading soul mate books and sharing (well Patrick was at least) their knowledge. “Oh, wow, Patrick, I bet you didn’t eat! I’m sorry.” Mikey says, standing up and pulling Patrick up with him. “Nah, it’s okay. I don’t actually eat all that much.” Patrick answers, pushing his book into the empty slot. Mikey sends him a cold glare and a raised eyebrow. “I sincerely hope you’re just being nice,” he says. Patrick shrugs (Mikey was right, Patrick was being nice, he had forgotten the time anyway, and he’d just eat pancakes when he got home. Why pancakes, the narrator does not know).

 

“Ugh, I have Chemistry now. I like Chem, I just don’t like Chem.” Mikey whines. “That made no sense. Who do you have?” Patrick asks. “Le professeur de méchant!” Mikey cries. “You’re partially Italian, not French.” Patrick says, leading Mikey out of the library. “So who’s in your Chemistry?” Patrick continues. “Well, the evil teacher… Ray… Me… Alicia… Pete… I don’t know, mostly I hum instead of caring.” Mikey replies. “I bet you still have a good grade too.” Patrick sighs. Mikey just smirks.

 

They part ways (IT WAS AN ACCIDENT) at the stairs, as Mikey has to go to the third floor and Patrick, who has Mathematics, is making his way (downtown, walking fast, and he’s math bound DOO DOO DO DOO DO DOO, DOO DOO DO DOO DO DOO) to the aptly named Math Building(™). Mikey makes it to Chemistry with time to spare and pulls out his notebook before putting headphones and trying to ignore everyone.

 

Someone (guess who) slides into the seat beside him, about ten seconds before the bell rings for the start of class. “Whatcha listening to?” Pete asks. “Antisocial.” Mikey answers, pulling one earbud out, but leaving the other in (Pete was worth listening to, but not as much as Anthrax). “I’m assuming by Anthrax and not some weird band I’ve never heard and never want to hear.” Pete says. “How dare you. I’ll have you know it’s by Ahroghi (the narrator definitely did _not_ just press a bunch of keys).” Mikey replies defensively. “That’s not a band. Can I listen?” Pete smiles. “There’s like, 15 seconds left.” Mikey replies, checking after he says this and nodding. “Can I listen anyway?” Pete persists. “I hope you like Metallica, I hear the beginning of Master Of Puppets.” Mikey replies (Mikey does a lot of replying, okay?). “I’ll be your master.” Pete says, winking. “Nope. Nope. You don’t deserve it. That was awful. I revoke your right to listen to my music.” Mikey says, shifting away and giggling (Mikey? Giggling? WHAT??).

 

“Oh, come on. I’ll behave, I promise!” Pete whines. “Doesn’t that make _me_ the master? As you’re obeying me?” Mikey taunts, an eyebrow arched. “What a jerk! I don’t associate with people who make jokes about that kind of stuff. Disgusting.” Pete replies, pursing his lips and shaking his head. “I always thought it was odd you seemed to be not associating with yourself…” Mikey says, cocking his head. Pete laughs. The teacher looks over at them, only to find Mikey jotting down beautiful notes and Pete, well Pete didn’t really do much in class anyway.

 

“Wow, how do you do such nice notes?” Pete asks, watching Mikey scribble things down. “Pete please actually read my notes.” Mikey sighs, continuing to write quickly. “Mikeyway! Are you just writing song lyrics?” Pete asks. “You’re not the one I want in my bed, but I’m gonna be the song…” Mikey sings quietly as he writes. “I really want to scream stuck in your head and I probably will for the rest of the day. Are you punishing me?” Pete says. “You asked, I answered.” Mikey shrugs.

 

They spend the rest of the class pretending to do notes (Mikey is probably going to get Pete’s grades up, now that he’s taught him his ways), listening to music, and talking. Pete spent a lot of the time obviously flirting, which Mikey noticed (some Pete pick-up lines: 1.  Which way do you lean? I bet you’re the wrong Way.  2. Did it hurt? When you came up from hell to make my heart grow three sizes? 3. If you were a fruit, you’d be a fineapple. 4. If you were a chicken you’d be im-peck-able. 5. Are you an earthquake? Because you rock my world. #StopTheNarratorsFrens2k17).

 

At the end of class Mikey and Pete leave together, journeying toward Mikey’s locker (like your dear Mx. Narrator has already said, Pete was a slacker and really didn’t take anything he needed with him). Mikey grabbs his stuff, throwing it into his backpack quickly. As they walk to their next class, they happen to have Math together, Mikey sees Patrick. “Pat! Pat!” Mikey yells, running toward him, Pete slowly following him with much less enthusiasm. “You have the same Math teacher as me, right? What are we doing, I have an essay to write for History.” Mikey says to Patrick. “You’ll have time to write an essay. Probably.” Patrick replies, smiling. “Good, good.” Mikey says. Pete waves at Patrick, who waves back. It’s pretty awkward. Mikey sees.

  
Mikey smiles at the both of them and takes off toward his class. Pete and Patrick stare at each other for a moment before mumbling goodbyes and see you laters and walking to their next class thinking about each other (and Mikey).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm really mad this isn't 1000 words and it's moving too fast but... it fine. also i think i may have switched tenses a little? not my best work.


	4. gerard's great

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patrick focused (guess i just really like pat, but that's no secret)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, sorry for the shit chapter last time, i filled it with stupid jokes though??  
> this chapter's better, and if you think it's moving to fast... read between the lines.  
> anyway, theres a "*** (three asterisks)" in this chapter and when you get to that skip to my end notes for a gerard focused paragraph. (if you want.)  
> also i am very very very sorry that i haven't posted in a year and 236 days i have been le busy  
> 

Everyone knows Gerard Way. He’s smart and strange, and if you haven’t seen him you’ve at least heard his name uttered. Gerard, like all good (relative term) older brothers, has a genuine care for his brother. So when he notices how much Mikey likes both Pete and Patrick, well he’s gotta do something, right?

“Hey, Patrick. And Mikey too, I guess.” Patrick is greeted by the lazy hellos of Gerard as he and Mikey sit down to lunch. “Hey, Gee.” Mikey and Patrick respond. “What’re you reading?” Patrick asks, seeing that Gerard has a book next to him. Gerard flips the book over and pushes it toward Patrick. “Why are you reading about polyamoury?”

Gerard shrugs. Mikey uses a finger to pull the book over to himself, opening it to a random page. “What’re you doing?” Patrick asks, seeming cautious maybe… scared? “Maybe I have two letters because of this?” Mikey mutters. “I doubt it. I’ve never seen anything about it anywhere.” Patrick replies skeptically. “That’s because they don’t know. There’s nothing anywhere. Maybe I wanna find out for myself.” Mikey says. “Mikey… I know you love me… so return the book for me… please.” Gerard pleads, a insincere smile on his face. Mikey scowls, but picks up the book and turns away. Patrick gives a little wave.

Gerard moves over to Patrick, at the distress of Frank, who decides sitting at a lunch table on his phone isn’t worth it if Gerard isn’t next to him, and leaves. “What do you have against polyamoury?” Gerard asks. “Nothing. I just prefer to have facts rather than… jumping into things half cocked.” Patrick sighs. “Yes, well, sometimes you have to find something out for yourself instead of waiting for someone else to figure it out for you and taking what they’ve learned.” Gerard replies. Patrick rests his head against Gerard, and they sit like that for a moment before Patrick murmurs, “You smell like Mikey.” Gerard smiles, “We smell like our house.” *******

The bell rings eventually, and Gerard smiles at Patrick. They part ways, Gerard going wherever it is Gerard goes (possibly class, possibly his smoking spot) and Patrick going to History. Patrick spends most of History spacing out, realising he’s not paying attention, writing a full page of notes in a minute, and repeating the process. The bell shocks him out of his stupor at the end of History and he leaves in a haze.

He has English now, which he realises he has with Pete. He doesn’t really pay much attention to Pete, other that to occasionally wonder if he should ask Pete about his double letters. He never had, but Mikey seemed to like him, and Patrick liked Mikey. He walked over to his locker, grabbing his Science and English books, and started off to English.

He gets to English, and spots Pete sitting on his own on his laptop. He sits next to him, Pete not looking up. Patrick pulls his book out of his backpack, dropping it on the table, and taking out his own laptop. Finally, Pete looks at him. “Hello,” Patrick mutters. “Hi, welcome to the Pete side,” Pete replies. “So you’re the dark side?” Pat mutters, an eyebrow raised. “Is there a name for the non-dark side? Are they the light side?” Pete asks. “Yep, the term ‘Light Side’ has appeared in canon material, although it was also called ‘Ashla’, the name Lucas used in his original script,” Patrick answers, to Pete’s amazement. “Are you okay? Are you a robot?” Pete asks. “Don’t worry about that. I don’t want to have to kill you, I bare- I’M NOT A ROBOT WHAT?” Patrick answers, starting calm and slightly sad and ending frenzied. Pete laughs.

“Wait, shit, we need Lifelode?” Pete yells, looking over at where Patrick has dropped his books. “Shut up! Yes. If you’re quiet then if you find one the teachers won’t ask questions. Go over to Meagan, she almost always brings two books.” Patrick responds, shaking his head slightly. Pete gets up and wanders over to the dark haired girl, and returns a few moments later, book in hand. “You’re smart.” Pete mutters. “I know.” Patrick replies, smiling.

“Also, I haven’t read a word of Lifelode, explain?” Pete sheepishly asks. “We have like three months, you’ll live.” Patrick replies. “But you’ve read it.” Pete says. “Maybe.” Pat replies. “So, tell me the summary.” Pete continues. “Nope.” Patrick says. “Why?” Pete whines. “I don’t know if you’re used to convincing people to do shit for you, but you should stop. I won’t be coerced, and later neither will other people,” Patrick says.

“Jesus, are you some kind of wise man?” Pete mutters. “I… am… robot Yoda!” Patrick replies, the smile returning to Pete’s face. “No, I joke, I’m just a short outsider in a fedora,” Patrick says. “Those are my favourite kind of people,” Pete says. “The weirdos with two letters and bad fashion? I mean that is you…” Patrick continues. “My fashion is everything, but ba- wait, you have two letters!?” Pete shouts. Most of the people in the room look over at them, and Patrick facepalms.

“Do you _never_ speak normally? Yes, I do, and luckily for you no one gives a shit about me or I would’ve just murdered you,” Patrick says, voice muffled from behind his hand. “Sorry, but I didn’t think anyone else had… this,” Pete says, rubbing his wrist self-consciously. Patrick realises despite the fact Pete and Mikey appear to be friends, Mikey hasn’t told Pete (please murder the author if they put that Mikey told Pete, they don’t _think_ they did?) that he also has two letters.  
  
“You’re not nearly as special as you think, Petey dear,” Patrick says, smiling. “Wow, how rude. My mommy says I’m special,” Pete says, adopting a childlike voice. “My mommy says your mommy is a liar with a drinking problem,” Pat says. “My mommy says your mommy says other mommies are mean because she’s mean.” “My mommy says your mommy says my mommy says other mommies say your mommy tries to get with all the daddies,” Patrick says. “My mommy says someday I’ll grow up and have a sugar daddy,” Pete says, trying not to laugh. “My mommy says someday I’ll be someone’s sugar daddy,” Patrick replies. “We need to stop,” Pete laughs. “Yeah, that was getting really weird really fast,” Patrick giggles.

“Plus, class started about five minutes ago, I think we’re about to take a test,” Patrick says, looking around as girls pass out papers. “This better not be about Lifelode!” Pete whispers angrily. “Best of luck, love,” Patrick smiles. Pete glowers at him as a girl hands him a paper that says, “Quiz on chapters 1-10 of Lifelode by Jo Walton.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gerard was careful not to say "our home". Houses clung to people, trying to become homes. The Way's probably did a good job of it, with the peculiar scent of cigarettes, paint, and bakery (Gerard probably smelled more of paint than Mikey, spending most of his time in his basement room making beautiful disasters, while Mikey spent his time in the living room where aromas from the kitchen wafted over). They say home is where the heart is, but what if your heart floats like a butterfly, flitting from place to place? Home exists, but in you, the narrator supposes, but who knows?


End file.
